Cert. Denied In Massachusetts Church Closing Case

The U.S. Supreme Court today denied certiorari in Maffei v. Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston, (Docket No. 07-558) (order list). In the case, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court had dismissed a challenge to the Archdiocese of Boston's closing of St. James Church in Wellesley, holding that the major claim involved matters of internal church governance that the First Amendment precludes civil courts from deciding. (See prior posting).

Huckabee Preaches At New Hampshire Church Ahead of Primary

The role of churches in political campaigns was highlighted yesterday in Windham, New Hampshire as Republican candidate Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist minister, unexpectedly delivered the sermon at a church called the Crossing. The church meets in a school cafeteria. Today's Washington Post reports that cameras were not permitted inside the service and Huckabeee did not appeal for votes in tomorrow's primary as part of his sermon. However a church official invited congregants to attend a later Huckabee rally a mile away.

Israel Will Re-Establish Religious Affairs Ministry

In Israel on Sunday, the Cabinet voted 15-7 (with 2 abstentions) to re-establish the Religious Affairs Ministry four years after it was dissolved and its duties were dispersed among other departments. YNet News reports that the new ministry will oversee the Chief Rabbinate, the Rabbinical Court and the Yeshiva division. Yossi Beilin, chairman of the liberal Meretz-Yachad Party, criticized the decision saying: "Israel just took a huge step back in reestablishing a ministry dedicated to force religious law in a secular majority."

Ohio Governor Interviewed On His Faith And Its Impact

Sunday's Cleveland Plain Dealer published an interview with Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, a former Methodist minister, about religious faith and its impact on his decisions as governor. Here is an excerpt:

[PD:] Has your faith changed over the years?

[Strickland:] My understanding of religious faith and of personal responsibility I think has matured. I used to feel like I had all of the answers.... I read the Bible and I pray and I listen to advice that I get from people of faith. But, no, I'm not as presumptuous as I used to be when it comes to thinking that I understand fully and completely the precise will of God....

I think there is a danger of having God conform to our image, rather than trying to conform to his. And I think that can lead to arrogance and self- righteousness and a sense of superiority that, from my point of view, is the antithesis of what true faith leads to.

Afghan Islamic Council Decries Christian Proselytizing

In Afghanistan, the country's influential Islamic council made up of clergy and scholars (ulema) met on Friday with President Hamid Karzai. A Reuters report today says the influential body expressed concern to Karzai over Christian missionary activities in the country. A number of foreign aid groups in Afghanistan have Christian affiliations, but they deny any proselytizing. The Islamic council also demanded an end to TV broadcasting of Indian soap operas, a crack down on graft and a return to public execution of murderers.

Some Books and Book Reviews of Interest

Yesterday's New York Times Sunday Book Review section was devoted to reviews and essays on books about Islam. The editors of the Book Review introduced the issue by saying: "[M]ost Americans know very little about Muslims, which often means they know very little about their own neighbors.... Since 9/11, publishers have been rushing to fill this knowledge gap, and the time seems right to highlight their efforts."

Tom Perrotta's new novel The Abstinence Teacher, (St. Martin's Press, 2007), focusing in a new way on conservative Christian viewpoints, was reviewed last week by the London Telegraph.

Trial Held In Prisoner Suit Seeking Kosher Meals

Last Saturday's St. Louis Post Dispatch ran a long story about prison inmate Norman Lee Toler's federal lawsuit seeking to require the Missouri Department of Corrections to furnish him kosher food. The case was tried last week in federal court in St. Louis. Toler claims to be Jewish, even though several years ago while serving time in an Illinois prison, guards discovered Toler had white supremacist literature, pictures of Adolph Hitler and a jailhouse "SS" tattoo. Toler says he was merely holding the material for another inmate. Missouri says that if it loses the case, it will likely change its current policy that accepts a prisoner's representation of his religion without verification. (See prior postings on pre-trial decisions in the case, 1, 2.)

Property Owner Fights Zoners Over Planned Cross On Lake Michigan

Friday's Grand Haven (MI) Tribune reports that a St. Joseph, Michigan man is in a battle with city officials over his plans to build an illuminated 30-foot cross on a bluff facing Lake Michigan. Officials consider the land on which the cross is to be built-- located across the street from Ervin Wagner's home-- to be a detached front yard. Accessory structures are prohibited in yards in residential areas. 63-year old Wagner says: "The Lord has been after me to do this for many years." Wagner's proposed cross would be visible from Lake Michigan, and he also wants to install a camera to broadcast the view in streaming video online.

Father Says State Constitution Voids Order That Son Attend Catholic School

In La Grange, Kentucky on Friday a state court judge heard arguments from a divorced father seeking to force his former wife to send their son to a public high school instead of to the Catholic school that he now attends. WLKY News reports that the father, David Ryan, is an atheist and objects to the order originally issued during the divorce providing that his son would continue attending Catholic school. Ryan hinges his argument on Sec. 5 of the Kentucky Constitution that reads: "Nor shall any man be compelled to send his child to any school to which he may be conscientiously opposed."

VT Court Holds Statute of Limitations Had Not Run In Priest Abuse Case

In Burlington, Vermont, Superior Court Judge Matthew Katz has granted plaintiff James Turner's motion for judgment notwithstanding the jury's verdict that the statute of limitations precluded his recovery of damages from the Catholic diocese for negligent supervision of a former priest who had abused Turner. WCAX-TV News reported Friday that the judge held that the statute of limitations did not begin to run until plaintiff had notice that the Diocese had negligently supervised its priests. They could not have discovered this until they received various documents in 2002. The ruling could affect the more than 25 other cases pending against the diocese. The case is Turner v. Roman Catholic Diocese (docket entries).

Litigation Strains Virginia Episcopal Docese

Virtue Online reported on Friday that the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia has taken out a $2 million line of credit and is planning to sell off non-strategic real property in order to finance its litigation with eleven break-away parishes. The lawsuit will decide who owns the parishes' real property. (See prior posting.)

New Russian Textbook Reflects Anti-Catholic Views

Asia News reported yesterday that in Russia, a new textbook titled "Religions In Russia" is filled with factual errors and negative portrayals of Catholicism. Written by Andrei Kulakov, the textbook portrays Catholicism as hostile toward Russia's Orthodox Church. The final edition failed to incorporate suggested changes made by the editors of the Russia Catholic Encyclopedia when they reviewed the chapters in draft form. They found forty serious mistakes, and now urge schools not to adopt the text.

Times Explores Mormon Church and Religious Concerns About Romney

Today's New York Times Magazine features a long article by Noah Feldman titled What Is It About Mormonism?. It traces the development of Mormonism and explores why it creates a problem for presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. Here are two excerpts:

In theory, the evangelical political movement says that it is prepared to embrace Jews and even Muslims so long as they share the same common values of the religious right. In the case of a Mormon candidate, though, many evangelicals are not prepared to say that common values are enough. The reason seems to be the view among evangelicals that the substantive theological beliefs of Mormons are so radically different from their own as to constitute not a sect of Christianity but a Christian heresy....

If Mormonism were to keep Romney from the nomination, the Mormon Church hierarchy may through continuing revelation and guidance respond by shifting its theology and practices even further in the direction of mainstream Christianity and thereby minimizing its outlier status in the culture. Voices within the LDS fold have for some time sought to minimize the authority of some of Joseph Smith’s more creative and surprising theological messages, like the teaching that God and Jesus were once men....

Court Dismisses Challenge To Pastor's Use of Church Funds

On Friday, a Nashville, Tennessee judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by a dissident faction of the Two Rivers Baptist Church against senior pastor, the Rev. Jerry Sutton seeking Sutton's removal as an officer and director of the large Nashville church and asking for damages. Plaintiffs accused Sutton of misusing church funds. The Tennessean reports that Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman agreed with defendants that how a church decides to spend its money is a religious matter that civil courts may not review. The court, however, did leave in place an earlier order permitting plaintiffs to inspect the church's financial documents. (See prior related posting.)

Primary Ads Urge Voters To Probe Candidates On Church-State Issues

A series of newspaper and television ads have been launched in New Hampshire and South Carolina by First Freedom First asking voters to look at whether candidates in the upcoming primaries are respecting church-state separation and religious freedom. A press release Friday by Americans United reports that the first of the TV ads feature Jack Klugman and James Whitmore urging voters to ask candidates: "Who will decide my end of life care: politicians and religious right leaders, or my doctor and me?", and asking whether the candidate will "protect the right of all Americans to worship...or not." The First Freedom First website lists ten suggested questions that voters should ask candidates in order to find out their views on church-state and religious liberty concerns. First Freedom First is a joint project of Americans United and the Interfaith Alliance Foundation.

Pennsylvania Insists On Licenses for Tranist Vehicles Serving Amish

Last Sunday's Pittsburg Post Gazette carried a story about a crack down by Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission enforcement officers against drivers who provide rides for Amish residents in exchange for compensation, but who have not obtained a $350 PUC paratransit certificate. Amish prohibitions on owning or operating motor vehicles mean they need to hire non-Amish to transport them when they need to travel a significant distance. The PUC regulations require adherence to safety standards and obtaining of commercial insurance in order to qualify for the certificate. In case of an accident, paying passengers would not be covered by non-commercial insurance.

Three Cases Involve Employee Requests For Religious Time Off

In Leonce v. Callahan, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 228 (ND TX, Jan. 3, 2008), a Texas federal magistrate judge granted summary judgement in a Title VII case to a county sheriff's office that refused to accommodate a detention officer's request that he not work on Saturdays because of his Seventh Day Adventist faith. The court found that the county had established that there was no reasonable accommodation that would not have imposed an undue hardship on the county.

In Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority v. Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, (MA Sup. Jud. Ct., Jan. 4, 2008), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that the MBTA had violated the state's prohibition on religious discrimination in employment when it refused to to hire a Seventh Day Adventist as a part-time bus driver because he needed Saturdays off to observe his Sabbath. The court held that the MBTA should have facilitated a voluntary swap of hours by employees. Because the MBTA did nothing to accommodate the applicant, the court said it did not need to decide whether requiring an employer to incur more than de minimis cost to accommodate an employee violates the establishment clause. Today's Boston Globe reported on the decision.

Finally, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports on a religious discrimination lawsuit by a Clarksville, Indiana man against a Value City retail store. The employee left his job after the store refused to assure him that he could always have Wednesday nights and Sundays off to attend church services.

Court Upholds Texas Mandatory Moment of Silence Law

On Tuesday, a Texas federal district court rejected an Establishment Clause challenge to the Texas law that requires public schools to observe a moment of silence each day during which students may “reflect, pray, meditate, or engage in any other silent activity that is not likely to interfere with or distract another student.” In Croft v. Perry, (ND TX, Jan. 2, 2008), most of the court’s 36-page opinion focused on the state’s purpose in enacting the current version of the law. The court concluded: “Although it is a close question, the Court finds legitimate the secular purpose of allowing for all types of thoughtful contemplation and concludes that this purpose is supported by the legislative history and sufficient to withstand the Lemon test. The Court rejects the argument that this purpose is trivial or pretextual.” Today's Houston Chronicle and Dallas News both reported on the decision. (See prior related postings 1, 2.)

Teaching of Evolution, Rejection of Creationism Pressed By US Advisory Groups

Reuters reports that yesterday the U.S. National Academy of Sciences along with the Institute of Medicine issued a book titled Science, Evolution and Creationism. The NAS and IOM are advisory bodies to the U.S. government on issues of science and medicine. The press release on the book says:

Recent advances in science and medicine, along with an abundance of observations and experiments over the past 150 years, have reinforced evolution's role as the central organizing principle of modern biology....

Despite the overwhelming evidence supporting evolution, opponents have repeatedly tried to introduce nonscientific views into public school science classes through the teaching of various forms of creationism or intelligent design.... NAS and IOM strongly maintain that only scientifically based explanations and evidence for the diversity of life should be included in public school science courses. "Teaching creationist ideas in science class confuses students about what constitutes science and what does not," the committee stated."

As SCIENCE, EVOLUTION, AND CREATIONISM makes clear, the evidence for evolution can be fully compatible with religious faith. Science and religion are different ways of understanding the world. Needlessly placing them in opposition reduces the potential of each to contribute to a better future," the book says.

At the same time, according to Science Daily, a coalition of 17 scientific organizations is urging scientists to become more involved in promoting science education, including evolution. An article in the January 2008 FASEB Journal says that introducing creationism and intelligent design in the science classroom undermines the fundamentals of science education.

Evangelicals Crucial To Huckabee's Win In Iowa

An AP analysis shows that support of evangelicals was crucial to Mike Huckabee's win in the Republican Iowa caucuses yesterday. An AP poll revealed that more than 80% of Huckabee's caucus supporters were born again or evangelical Christians, while fewer than half of Mitt Romney's supporters fit that description. Almost two-thirds of Huckabee's supporters said it was very important that their candidate share their religious beliefs. Only 20% of the Romney supporters had that view. Huckabee is a former Southern Baptist minister and has emphasized his Christian beliefs during the campaign.